{Summer 2022}

Hello, my friends!

I wanted to start out this post with the usual and very-overused “Summer went by so fast” but I restrained myself (Or did I just use it in that sentence. . .hmm. XD) Anyhow, I am having a terrible time believing it’s already September and that we’ll be starting school in 4 days. o.O We already got our house all decorated for fall but it still doesn’t seem like summer should be over yet.

Ahem. What I was trying to say is that this post will be filled with 15 things I did this summer in no particular order. XD

Please enjoy some summery photos, lots of fun, and good memories!

1. Went on a wonderful trip to Lake Michigan in June

This was way at the beginning of Summer. I had an absolutely fantastic time visiting Lake Michigan with my Aunt and Grandparents. We went on two really neat hikes, visited a lighthouse, spent tons of time on the beach, climbed a tower, and much more.

2. Participated in the Go-Teen-Writers 100-for-100 Challenge

I’m not actually finished with this one since I still have 11 days left, but I’m nearly there! Since June 6th, I’ve written at least 100 words every day on the same project, which feels pretty awesome. It’s definitely helped me work on outlining and plotting the novel I’m working on right now because I’m not a huge fan of either of those stages, though they are hugely needed.

3. Read 22 books (+ 3 books of the Bible)

This summer was honestly pretty good for reading! And in August alone, I read 13 books. o.O A friend of mine hosted a super fun summer reading challenge for the month of August, and that definitely spurred me on. I’m hoping that I finally got past the reader’s-block I was facing at the beginning of the summer, but we’ll see.

4. Baked a good amount
I don’t do a ton of baking in general, but when I do do it, I enjoy it, and I made it a priority this summer to bake some. My favorite things I made were Cheesecake, Rice Crispy Dream Bars, and Blueberry Muffins.

5. Met a writing friend

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet one of my writing friends and penpals, Katherine, while we were visiting Lake Michigan! We’d talked a lot through emailing, video calls, and such, and it was so amazing to meet each other in real-life. We had a blast together, and so did our siblings. (I sadly can’t share a specific picture from the visit because of privacy reasons. :P)

6. Had a small garden

We didn’t have a huge garden this year since we were incredibly busy with planting all our trees and went on a trip right at the beginning of June, but the garden we did have grew wonderfully. And now we have lots of watermelons, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, and more ready to harvest.

7. Memorized 10 new Bible verses

For our Church Daycamp Camp this year, we memorized Ephesians 6:10 – 18 (The Armor of God) through music, and now I can sing all 9 of those verses. Plus on my own, I memorized Isaiah 60:1. Besides that though, I spent most of the summer focusing on reviewing the old verses I know, since there is nearly 200 that I have memorized already.

8. Went to a lot of fun youth group activities and day camp!

Going off of the last point, this summer was a super fun one for our church youth group. We went mini-golfing, kayaking, the lake, roller skating, did a selfie scavenger hunt, and more. Plus each year, there’s the church day camp that my mom organizes that I mentioned above. It’s always a blast and this year was no different. And on the last night of camp, we did an egg drop to test our egg’s armor. My egg was one of the few that survived, and it won the award for the largest egg by far. (It was first wrapped in tissue paper and from there, cotton, bubble wrap, a mailing envelope. Balloons were tied around it to cushion the fall, and the whole thing was tossed into a garbage bag. It was quite the armor.)

9. Finished setting up my room

Back in May, we did a whole room switcheroo in our house, and now, the three eldest children have our own rooms. It works so much better than it did before, and Mom and I had a ton of fun decorating and setting up my room to make it wonderful. I’m hoping to do a room tour post soon, so stay tuned!

10. Wrote 14 blog posts

Somehow, even in the craziness of this summer, I stayed consistent with posting a blog post every week! I wrote some of my favorite posts this summer, and I’m so glad I was able to hit my goal of posting every week. I love blogging so much and being able to share my photos, writing, and adventures with you all is so much fun. Thank you so much for reading my posts and always leaving the sweetest comments. You all are amazing! ❤

11. Did lots of swimming

On top of doing swim team every year, my grandma also has a pool that she opens just for us grandchildren to use! It’s so much fun to swim with all of my cousins in the summer, and this year was no different. We also went to the lake twice, which was tons of fun.

12. Went on lots of walks

I love taking walks on our trails, especially in the summer. We also did a lot of rides on our ranger (a UTV type thing.) and four-wheeler, two things that are lots of fun.

13. Did 3 sibling photoshoots

Three times this summer I convinced my siblings to go outside with me and let me take lots of photos with them. Usually, the girls, Jewel and Mercy are happy to do this, but the boys are more reluctant. But we did do it three times and I got a lot of fun photos of them.

14. Hosted five different birthday parties (And attended more)

All of my siblings’ birthdays fall within the course of June – September, and summer is always busy with birthdays and parties. We also hosted a super amazing surprise party for my aunt in July, which was a ton of fun, too, and definitely a highlight of this summer.

15. Celebrated my grandparents’ 50th Anniversary and a family reunion

My grandparents had their 50th anniversary this year, and to celebrate, all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins came to visit and we had a nice three days together before everyone headed back home. It was good to see everyone since it had been three years since we were all together! ❤ (I also don’t have a specific photo to share from this event, but I do have this one that I took while I was on a walk with my cousin!)

16. Became a Community Assistant for The Young Writer’s Workshop

This was a pretty big highlight! In early August, I applied for the position of CA (Community Assistant) for the wonderful writing community I’m in, and I was chosen. So far, I’ve loved being able to serve others in this way. ❤

And there you have it, my friends – an illustrated summary of my summer. I hope you enjoyed the post, and enjoyed your summer too!

What was your favorite picture? What was the best part about your summer? Are you excited for autumn? I know I am! What was one thing you did this summer?

Thanks so much for reading, friends, and have a lovely about-to-be-fall day!

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